Monday, December 19, 2016

Why patients don't sign up for clinical trials

Rebecca Dresser writes:If experts did listen to patients, here are some of the things they would hear. First and foremost, patients want medical care. Many welcome the chance to help others through study participation, but few will knowingly compromise their own health needs for altruistic reasons. Moreover, a diagnosis of serious illness alters one’s psychological state. Seriously ill patients are looking for support and guidance from their doctors. Impersonal research requirements like randomization and control groups can be hard to reconcile with the sensitive and individualized care patients expect. And few patients welcome the prospect of undergoing extra procedures and examinations for the sake of research data collection. Even an additional one or two visits to the clinic can impose an immense burden on patients already burdened by serious illness.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe To

Subscribe via email

Search This Blog

Who we are

Fear and Loathing in Bioethics began life as blog for "Investigative Journalism and Bioethics," a class taught by Amy Snow Landa and Carl Elliott at the University of Minnesota. Although the class has ended, the blog has not. Most posts now are by Carl Elliott, a professor in the Center for Bioethics. However, they do not in any way represent the views or positions of the University of Minnesota.